The club is buzzing with excitement. Colourful lights flash everywhere, illuminating the entire area in a haze of neon.
It's also packed. I'm not surprised, considering the time and the day of the week, and for the first time, I wonder why I'm here and not some place quiet.
But it doesn't matter. Atleast I'm out if the house.
Next to me, Valencia takes a deep breath.
"Not your fortè?" I ask her.
"Not the least bit." She mumbles.
Her friend Catherine grabs her arm and leads her to the dance floor.
It's packed with writhing bodies all swaying to the beat on unbearably loud music.
A girl catches my eye and winks. She's tall, with long hair that reach past her waist and a red dress so short everyone could have easily seen what was underneath.
I would have complied, but not now. Now, I need my happy little dose of booze before I can do anything I regret tomorrow.
I make my way to the bar on the left and take a seat. The bartender flashes me a promescuous smile before asking me what I want.
A shot of tequila, I tell her. One more after that, and then another.
I drink until the music isn't so loud and everything sort of falls in the background.
I'm not drunk, not yet, but I find myself making my way to the dance floor.
The girl with the long hair is there, leaning against the wall.
She tilts her head in my direction before making her way over to me.
"Wanna follow me upstairs, handsome?" She whispers in my ear.
"I'll pass." I say lazily, pushing my hair away from my forehead.
But the girl doesn't get the hint apparently, because she drags me to the dance floor, and the next thing I know, I'm dancing alongside her.
And she's a little too close for comfort. The fact that I don't mind makes me cringe.
She's swaying her hips, her arms in the air as she looks at me. "Get me another drink?" She asks, fluttering her long lashes.
"Sure."
Somehow I manage to make my way through the impossibly large crowd and find my way back to the bartender.
I'm about to ask her for the first thing comes to mind before a hand slaps my back and a grinning face comes into view.
The guy in front of me puts down his flute of champagne on the table. "DANI!" he yells with a grin on his face.
I close my eyes in relief before throwing my arms around him in a quick hug.
Finally. Somebody I recognised.
"It's been so long, man." He says.
And even though I remember seeing him just last week, he looks a lot different. His brown hair is shorter though still curly, and he's taller.
I follow him to a secluded spot upstairs, and we both take a seat on one if the various leather couches. They stink, but I don't care at the moment.
"Raze." I say, shaking my head in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing." He grins again. "I heard about your, um," he pauses. "From Nate. But hey, at least you remember who I am."
I smile too. Raze is beginning to seem like the only person who hasn't changed.
He leans back and stretches his legs.
"Yeah well, who could forget your shitty ass?"
Raze laughs. "Your brain must hate you, dude."
That sentence couldn't be more true.
"So you remember nothing from the past two years?" He asks.
"Nada."
"Wow." He breathes. He reaches over and grabs another glass of champagne from a waiter. He gulps it down as quickly.
The sound of heels tapping towards us makes my head snap in that direction, and it's none other that Valencia and Catherine.
"We were looking for you." Says Catherine. Her gaze turns to the guy besides me, and she suddenly smiles.
"Hey, I'm Catherine." She says, reaching for his hand.
Raze, being the player that he is, reaches for it and kisses the back of her hand. "A pleasure. I'm Raze."
Catherine seems to be blushing, and Raze's gaze turns to Valencia.
"Hi, I don't think we had the pleasure of meeting before." He says.
"I'm afraid not." Her smile is friendly, but her attention is somewere else. I realise that she's deliberately avoiding looking in my direction.
"Valencia." I frown. "This is Raze. I must have told you about him."
She bites her lip. "I'm afraid not."
Raze chuckles. "I'm wounded, Price. Never mentioned me, huh?" He holds a hand over his heart. "And you call me your best friend."
But I must have. If we're as close as Valencia says we are, then why did I never mention Raze? We've been friends since kindergarten.
I shake my head. "Didn't we meet him when I brought you to Spain for the first time?"
Valencia shakes her head. "That was in April, around two years ago."
Raze tilts his head. "I was in Argentina then." He nudges me. "It's alright, man."
But it's not.
I never mentioned Raze.
I get up and grab her wrist, pulling her to the side where I made sure no one could hear us.
Valencia yanks her hand away from me. She's furious, but I don't really care.
"Are you sure I never mentioned him?"
"Positive." She snaps.
"What about Alej? Ben?"
"No!" She seethes. Why the hell is she so angry?
Oh. She must have seen me with that girl.
But it doesn't matter right now, not when I've got bigger things to deal with.
"I'll be right back." I say to Raze. He nods and I take my queue to leave.
I pretty much run all the way through the club until I reach the exit, where I throw open the back door and take a deep breath.
I pull out my phone and call the one person who may actually explain something.
"Hello?" She picks up on the third ring. "Darling, I know you love me and all, but it's the middle of the-- "
"Ma!" I say urgently. "I need answers."
She's a little taken back. "Answers to what, honey?"
I sigh. "Do you remember Raze?"
"Raze...Raze...that guy with the awful fashion sense?"
Despite everything, my lips quirk up in a small smile. 'Ma hated his ripped shirts.
"Yes, him." I say. "He was a huge part of my life, and you know that. How come I never spoke about him?"
"Dani." She pauses. "This is not the time for--"
"Yes, it is. Just tell me!"
"Look, I don't know exactly." She answers. "But when you and I shifted, we fought a lot, okay? You didn't want to come, you never did. You broke stuff, you yelled at me."
I clench my fists. Did I really do that? Ma was sick at the time, she could barely walk.
Had I become so selfish?
"What changed?" I asked.
"You found out the reason we shifted." She says. "Money was tight, you know. I couldn't afford treatment, and especially not in Spain since my nationality was foreign."
My throat burns. We shifted so she could get better.
"And when you found out, you swore you would leave your old life behind."
That's why I never talked about Raze. That's why I didn't tell Valencia or anyone else, anything.
It was easier that way.
"Okay, 'ma." I say. "Thanks."
"No problem, kid." She says. "Now go get some sleep, you have to get up early tomorrow."
And she cuts off the phone, and I'm left all alone.
I'm about to head back inside before the door opens, and Raze and Valencia are there.
"Hey." Says Raze. "Don't worry, we didn't hear anything." He adds.
"It's alright." I shove the phone back in my pocket.
It wasn't.
It was.
My mother was healthy. I was better.
But was anything alright anymore?